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Grand Coust. c. 33.

Basnage, V. 1.326.

Marriage. Grand Coust. c. 33.

entitled to wardship, which consisted in having the custody of the body and lands of the heir, without being accountable for the profits; till the male heir attained 21, and the female 16.

35. The doctrine of wardships was taken from the customs of Normandy, in which it was called Garde Noble: it is however observable that this right was peculiar to that province; and did not prevail in any other part of France; or in any other country where the feudal law was established.

36. Of the various hardships which arose from the adoption of the feudal law, wardship was the greatest, and the most complained of; for the object of some of the first chapters of Magna Charta was to regulate the conduct of the lords in this respect; and to restrain them from wasting or destroying the estates of their wards.

37. By the customs of Normandy, female wards were directed to be married with the advice and consent of the lord, and of their relations. In imitation of this practice, it appears to have been established in England that the consent of the lord was necessary to the marriage of his female wards; for which the lords usually required a sum of money. In the charter of King Henry I. he engages to take nothing for his consent. This being disregarded, it was provided by the first draught of the Magna Charta of King John that heirs should be married without disparagement, by the advice of their relations; in the charter of Hen. III. the clause is merely, that heirs shall be married without disparagement.

38. Soon after, the king and the great lords established a right to consent to the marriage, not only of their female, but of their male wards. As nothing but disparagement was restrained, they

thought themselves at liberty to make all other advantages they could. Afterwards this right of selling the ward in marriage, or else receiving the price or value of it, was expressly declared by the statute of 20 Hen. 3.Merton.

c. 6.

Alienation.

39. All lands held by a feudal tenure were origi- Fines for nully unalienable without the licence of the lord; from whence arose fines for alienation, of which an account will be given hereafter.

Tit. 32. c. 1.

40. Where the tenant died without heirs, by which Escheat. there was no person to perform the services, the land returned to the lord as an escheat.

Tit. 30.

Grand

41. There was a species of tenure called grand Tenure by serjeanty, which was considered as superior to knight Serjeanty. service; whereby the tenant was bound, instead of Fleta, lib. 1. serving the king generally in his wars, to do him some special honorary service in person.

42. Thus where the king gave lands to a man, to hold of him, to be marshal of his host, or marshal of England, or high steward of England, or the like; these were grand serjeanties. So if lands were given to a man to hold by the service of carrying the king's sword at his coronation, or being his carver or butler, these were called offices of honour, held by grand serjeanty.

c. 10.

1Inst. 106. a.

107.a.
Dyer, 285.b.

43. Lord Coke says, this tenure has seven special 1Inst. 105.b. properties. 1. To be holden of the king only. 2. The service to be done, when the tenant was able, in proper person. 3. The service was certain and particular. 4. The relief due in respect of this tenure was different from that due for knight service. 5. The service was in general to be done within the realm. 6. It was not subject to aid for making the eldest son a knight, or for marrying the eldest daughter. 7. It paid no escuage.

Abolition

Tenures.

44. The oppressions arising from military tenures, of Military having been discontinued during the civil wars in the reign of King Charles I. and in the time of the Commonwealth, were entirely removed at the Restoration by the statute 12 Cha. II. c. 24., which enacted that the court of wards and liveries, and all wardships, liveries, primer seisins, and ousterlemains, values and forfeitures of marriages, by reason of any tenure of the king, or others, be totally taken away; that all fines for alienations, tenures by homage, knight service, and escuage, and also aids for marrying the daughter, or knighting the son, and all tenures of the king in capite, be likewise taken away that all sorts of tenures held of the king, or others, be turned into free and common socage, save only tenures in frankalmoign, copyholds, and the honorary services of grand serjeanty; and that all tenures which should be created by the king, his heirs or successors, in future, should be in free and common socage.

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IN consequence of the statute 12 Cha. II. c. 24. Tenure in all free tenures, except frankalmoign, are now Socage. reduced to that of common socage: of which it will therefore be necessary to give a full account.

2. "Tenure in socage (says Littleton) is where the tenant holdeth of his lord the tenancy by certain service, for all manner of services; so that the service be not knight service. As where a man holdeth his land of his lord by fealty, and certain rent, for all manner of services; or else where a man holdeth his land by homage, fealty, and certain rent, for all manner of services; or where a man holdeth his land by homage and fealty, for all manner of services."

$117..

"Also a man may hold of his lord by fealty only, Id. § 118. and such tenure is tenure in socage; for every tenure which is not tenure in chivalry, is tenure in socage."

ld. § 119.

Ten. 142.

By Petit Serjeanty. $159.

$160.

3. Littleton derives the word socage from soca, a plough, the services antiently reserved on this tenure being those of husbandry. Somner deduces it from the Saxon word soc, importing liberty or privilege, which, being joined to a usual termination, is called socagium or socage, signifying a free and privileged tenure. Sir Martin Wright admits Somner's etymology to be countenanced by Britton, but professes himself inclined to prefer Littleton's: 1. Because our division of tenures into knight service and socage, considering socage as a tenure per servitium soca, directly answers to the Norman division of tenures into fiefs d'haubert and fiefs de roturier; that is, the gentleman's and the husbandman's fee. 2. Because, in this sense, the tenure in socage is, like that by knight service, simply denominated from the name or nature of the service antiently reserved upon it.

4. As the grand criterion and distinguishing mark of socage tenure is the having its renders and services ascertained, it will include under it all other modes of holding free lands by certain and invariable rents and duties; and, in particular, petit serjeanty, burgage, antient demesne, and gavelkind.

5. Littleton says, petit serjeanty is where a man holds his land of the king, to yield to him yearly a bow, a sword, a dagger, a knife, a pair of gloves of mail, a pair of gilt spurs, an arrow, or divers arrows, or to yield such other small things belonging to war. 6. It is also said, by the same writer, that such service is but socage in effect; because the tenant, by his tenure, ought not to go, nor do any thing, in his proper person, touching war; but to render and pay yearly certain things to the king, as a man ought to pay rent.

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